Lee Hester, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies
University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma
1727 W. Alabama
Chickasha, OK 73018-5322
(405) 574-1289 | (405) 574-1220 Fax
fachesterl@usao.edu
Thurman Lee Hester Jr. is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and is active in the Indian community of central Oklahoma. He is currently the Director of American Indian Studies at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma at Chickasha and has recently been named Director of the Pan-American Indian Humanities Center. Lee (as he is usually known) has been elected to various offices including to the National Caucus of the Wordcraft Circle of NativeWriters and Storytellers and has served for many years on the Board of Directors of the OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance including several years as Chairman of the Board. He is now beginning a term as President at OK Choctaw and also serves as Chairman of the Cultural Committee. He is co-founder (along with Dennis McPherson) of Ayaangwaamizin: The International Journal of Indigenous Philosophy. Besides his service to the Indian community, Lee was a founding board member of the Oklahoma Association for Healthcare Ethics and has served on numerous other panels and boards. Though his Ph.D. is in philosophy and he has spent much time studying Native American philosophy, he has an abiding interest in Indian law and policy and has published in that area as well. His 2002 book, Political Principles and Indian Sovereignty, won for him Wordcraft Circle’s Writer of the Year Award in the category of critical analysis.
Education
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK: Bachelor of Arts 1987 (History)
Master of Arts 1991 (Philosophy)
Doctor of Philosophy 1999 (Philosophy)
Dissertation Subject: Indian Law and Policy
Academic Work Experience
Oklahoma City University, Department of
Philosophy, Fall 1993-Spring 2000,
Adjunct Professor of Philosophy.
Undergraduate Courses Taught:
Environmental Ethics
Native American Philosophy
Native American Cross-Cultural Legal Ethics (2 times)
Critical Thinking (many times)
Symbolic Logic (3 times)
Medical Ethics (2 times)
Military Ethics
Graduate Course Taught:
Minorities in the Media (2 times)
Liberal Arts in Western Culture (many times)
Native American Identity
Lakehead University, Thunder Bay Ontario 1996-1997. Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy.
Undergraduate Courses Taught:
Intro Philosophy
Critical Thinking
Medical Ethics
Graduate Course Taught:
Native American Philosophy
Ayaangwaamizin: The International Journal of Indigenous Philosophy, 1997-Present
Published by the Northern and Regional Studies Committee of Lakehead University
Co-Editor and Founder with Dennis McPherson
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 2000-Present
Director of American Indian Studies
Director of the Pan-American Indian Humanities Center
Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies
Special Awards
Presidential Award of Excellence for Environmental Protection Services.1973, awarded by President Richard Nixon.
Writer of the Year 2003, in the area of critical analysis for the book Political Principles and Indian Sovereignty.
Offices Held: President, OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance (2003- )
Chairman of the Board, OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance (1997-2000)
Board Member, OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance (elected for term 1995-1997, 1997-1999, 1999-2001)
National Caucus, Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers (elected to terms 1999-2001, 2001-2003)
Board Member and founder, Oklahoma Association for Healthcare Ethics (elected to term 1996-1998)
President, O.U. Native American Graduate Students 1995.
Vice-President, O.U. Philosophical Society 1993.
Areas of Special Interest:
Areas of Specialization: Indian Law, Policy and Philosophy.
Areas of Competence: Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology.
Publications:
“Pishukchi: One Choctaw’s Examination of the Differences in English and Choctaw Language Use,” Moccasin Telegraph, (Official publication of the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, November 1996). Also reprinted in Ayaangwaamizin: The International Journal of Indigenous Philosophy, vol. 1, no. 1, 1997 and reprinted in anthologies.
Entries: “Philosophy,” “Annuities,” “Guns,” and “Moieties” Encyclopedia of North American Indians (Marshall Cavendish: 1997)
“The Euro-American Philosophical Tradition and its Ability to Examine Indigenous Philosophy,” Ayaangwaamizin: The International Journal of Indigenous Philosophy, vol. 1, no.1, An editorial with Dennis McPherson.
Entry: “Sovereignty,” Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia (Garland: 1999)
“Indigenous Worlds and Callicott’s Land Ethic,” Environmental Ethics, vol. 22 no. 3, Fall 2000. With Jim Cheney, Annie Booth and Dennis McPherson.
“Ceremonial Worlds and Environmental Sanity,” Strategies:Journal of Theory, Culture and Politics, vol 13 no 1 May 2000. With Jim Cheney.
“Choctaw Conceptions of the Excellence of Self with Implications for Education,” Blackwell Anthology of Native American Philosophy, forthcoming.
“On Philosophical Discourse,” Blackwell Anthology of Native American Philosophy, forthcoming.
Political Principles and Indian Sovereignty, Routledge, May 2001.
“Callicott’s Last Stand,” Land Value Community: Callicott and Environmental Philosophy, Wayne Ouderkirk ed., SUNY, January 2002.
Various other publications in American Indian journals, newspapers and newsletters
Presentations:
Indexical Taxonomy, Mid-South Philosophy Conference, Memphis Tennessee, 1994.
Commentary on R.J. Levy's Scepticism, Theory, Choice, and Induction, Mid-South Philosophy Conference, Memphis Tennessee, 1995.
Special lecture series delivered at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, 1996:
A Talking Circle: Native American Philosophy in Action Practical Spirituality: Native American Religion and Social Structure Federal Indian Law and the Doctrine of Discovery
Commentary on J. Curnutt’s A New Argument for Vegetarianism, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Annual Conference, Seattle Washington 1996.
Pishukchi: One Choctaw’s Examination of the Differences in English and Choctaw Language Use, 2nd Biennial Aboriginal Peoples’ Conference, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario 1996.
Indians, Alcohol, Conquest and Bad Science, Life Sciences Special Lecture Series, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, 1997.
Ethical Pluralism or Assimilation Redux? Callicott’s Earth’s Insights, University of North Texas Philosophy Department Special Lecture Series, Denton, Texas, 1999.
The Bible and the Feather: A Traditional Talk on the Differences Between Indians and Non-Indians, University of North Texas Philosophy Department Special Lecture Series, Denton, Texas, 1999.
Choctaw Conceptions of the Excellence of the Self, with Implications for Education, Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy Annual Conference 2000, Indianapolis, Indiana.
On Philosophical Discourse, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Annual Conference 2000.
Philosophy Spirit and Place, University of New Mexico Native American Studies Lecture Series, Fall 2000.
Choctaw Notions of Sovereignty, Philosophy and Aboriginal Rights: Critical Dialogues at the University of Winnipeg, June 22-26, 2001.
Native American and Euro-American World Views as Exhibited in Corn Growing Practices, The Summer Institute in American Philosophy, University of Vermont, July 10-15, 2001.
Mascots, Honor and the Passing of Generations, The American Philosophical Association Central Division Annual Conference 2002.
American Indian Corn-Growing Practices and Sustainable Agriculture, Lancaster University Visitation Day, 2002, Lancaster England.
And many presentations to community groups, primary and secondary schools on Native American philosophy, history and law.
Professional Memberships:
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers (elected to the National Caucus 1999-2001, 2001- )
American Philosophical Association (appointed to the Committee on Native Americans in Philosophy 1999- )
American Indian Philosophical Association